Grinding-machine.



W. D. GHERKY.

GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. 1913v 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Swuwwbom wi bneoo coLuMmA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON. n. 'cl

W. D. GHERKY.

GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. 1913.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co, WASHINGTON, D c.

W. D. GHERKY.

GRINDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. 1913.

1,161,653. Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

LLLLLLLLLLL ANOORAPH 60., WASHINGTON, 0.1:.

an earns nnnn T TUEW WILLIAM D. GHERKY, 05E PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

GRINDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 23, 1915.

Applicatien filedMaTc'h 24, 1913. Serial Nb. 756,531.

To all whom it may concern."

Be it known that I, WILLIAM D. GHERKY, acitizen of the. United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grinding-Machines, of which the-following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

The rail grinding machine of my invention is of the type now COIDDIOIllyUSGdon the tracks of electrical and steam railways and operating from the track to remove de' fects in the rails. While of this particular" type however, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon full understanding of my invention,- that it may be used inconnect-ion with other typeset machines; ar-

ranged to travel upon and operate from trackways of any description.

The characteristic feature of this machine is the guidance of the grinding element with respect to the tram portion of the'rail as distinguished from the head:- In the 'embodiinent=otthe machine which I illustrate" and describe herein, the grinding element is supported by travelers whichengage" and It is a travel upon the tram of-the rail; well known fact that while the head of the rail and the side otthe groove are worn down with great resulting irregularity of surface,the= tram portion of the rail remains 1 substantially as true as when the rail was firstlaidi Even at the joints-this'p'ortion of the rail is preserved substantially in its original condition, the distortion, wear and beating down being confined wholly to the head of the rail. Thus it is apparentthat the tram portion of the rail constitutesa permanently true surface of reference-for the guidance of rail dressing elements oper atingupon any part of the rail whatsoever.

Of the drawings: Figure l is a side --e1evation of the machine of my invention, Fig. 2 is a planvlew thereof arrangedfor con"- venience at right angles to Fig.1, l3igsp5 and 4 are transverse sections takenat the rail joints of two forms of rails in common use, and/Figs; 5 to 8 are diagrammatic views illustrating the means for guiding rail dressing elements heretofore employed.

Heretofore four principal means of gulding have been resorted to as shown in Figs.

5 to 8; Fig; 5 shows the earlymeansoit' sup: porting the grinding wheel from track wheels on opposite sides thereof and traveling frame:

ing upon the head-ofthe rail. The result in the 'case of the corrugated or otherwise detective rail as illustrated, is obvious. The rregularities of the surface ofthe rail act ing through the point' supports constituted by the wheels-effect correspondingly irregularmovements of the rail dressing element.

By using'extendedsupports in the form of out. The reciprocating element illustrated is of the'type' commonly used in a number of'm achine's previously invented by me, and c0m-prises *'aplurality of grinding bricks ar ranged intandem in a common reciprocat= tween the rail shoe of Fig.6 and the travelerof'Fig. Sbeingtha'tthe traveler is provided with a plurality of rollers through which engagement is made withthe trackway. The ad'vantagein this isthat the friction and wearof the rail" shoe are eliminated. Obviously-were the head'ofthe rail sides of any given "defect free from defects, the-arrangementsof-Figs. 6 to Sand others for the same purpose would bewvholly unnecessary; The" train of the rail as previ0uslystatedis wholly free from such defects.

ln F-ig. 3 I have shown a groovedrall, and

a rail dressing element W and a guiding ele ment S therefor engaging respectively the head II of the rail and the tram T. The

guiding element illustrated is" a .flanged wheel,'the flange F of which is on the out board side ot'the wheelflinstead of the inboard side as usual. The flange Fsubstantially fits within thegroove G of the rail but does notreacli the bottom thereof by some little distance. Thus accumulation of materials in the groove G does not affect the continuous travel of the guide S upon the tram T. The thicknessof the flangeF will notibeso great astojam Within the groove Gor to be affected by the irregularities in the side thereof. The 'tread R of the guide A The travelerslrown in F ig. 8' hasalso been used in the manner'ot the'rail shoe ofFig. 6, the essential diiference be-" on opposite mercial use will be quickly apprehended.

The embodiment which I show in Figs. 1

and 2 is in the machine forming the subject matter of my Patent No. 1,096,005, dated May 5, 1914. For a full description of the details thereof and its .operation reference may be made to this patent. Stated briefly for present purposes, the machine comprises a'main frame 1 rectangular in shape and supported from the trackway by wheels 18 at one end thereof and travelers 20 of the type shown in Fig. 8 at the otherend thereof., On each side and adjacent in each case to the traveler 20 on that side, the frame supports rotary grinding wheels 80 in a position to operate upon the heads of therails. These grinding wheels are mounted upon auxiliary and adjustable frames 86, 84 and in operation are drivencontinuously by an electric motor 9. Also driven by the motor 9 through gears 11, 12, 25, 26, 32, 33, 56, 5 5, isa feeding and timing device constituted by gears .53, 51, rock'shaft 52, and connections 4:9, 46, 43, 38, of the rock shaft 52 with a clutch on transverse shaft 22. Clutch 35 is reversed. at intervals the length of which is determined by the adj ustment of link'l6 with respect to arm 49 of shaft 52. This reversal of clutch 35 not only, reverses shaft 22 and hence the directionof travel of the machine along the track, (the machine being driven through wheels 18 and the gearing aforementioned), but also determines the oscillation and the period thereof of shaft 52 of the timing device (which is also driven through gears just mentioned). I I

Shaft 52is connected by arm 109 and link 107 with the oscillatable shaft 103 which is provided with cam arms 102 engaging directly the projections 86 from the adjustable frames 86 supporting the grinding element. The frames 86 are pivotally supported at one end on shafts 88 and are biased upwardly atthe other ends against cam arms 102 by means of suitable springs not shown. The result is that the frames 86 are moved up and down as the machine travels back and forth along the track, and

in direct accordance with the degree and the periodof oscillation of shaft 103. In the aforesaid patent the wheels 18 and ,the.

travelers 20 are shown as engaging and traveling upon the head of the rail, the length of travelers 20 and the proximity of the grinding thereto being relied upon to eliminate the effect of the irregularities of the head of the rail upon the guidance of the grinding element 80. Referring particularly to Fig. 2, it will be seen that both the grinding wheels 18 and the travelers 20 are mounted in a plane inside of the blano of the grinding wheels instead of in the same plane, and that they engage and travel upon the tram of the rail as shown in Fig. 3. In Fig. 2 the rails are indicated by dotted lines and the parts thereof lettered similarly to the parts in Fig. 3.

My invention is capable of many modifications without departing in any wise from its generic spirit. Such modification for instance would be constituted by the substitution of any of the forms of supports shown in Figs. 5 and 6 for the travelers 20 having the rollers 20. So also since both the travelers 20 and the wheels 18 engage the tram of the rail, the grinding elements 80 may be removed from the travelers 20 any desired distance without affecting the accuracy of the grinding. On the other hand the supports 20 may be placed in position to travel upon the tram of the rail, while the driving wheels 18, which are somewhat remote from the grinding element,

may engage the head of the rail, if it be found that greater tractive effect is necessary than can be obtained upon the tram. It should be particularly noted that in such case the grinding elements should be placed closely adjacent the travelers 20, and should depend thereon, so that the full benefit of guidance from the tram will be obtained. The means of driving the machine actually constitute no direct part of the invention, and the latter will be fully satisfied if the supporting means for the grinding elements travel entirely free of the head of the rail which is to be ground, and are supported upon the tram.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a machine of the class described, a rail dressing element, and a guide therefor, with means connecting the two in offset relation, so that the dressing element will ongage and operate upon the head of a rail, and the guide will travel exclusively upon the tram of the rail, and means for causing the parts to travel along the rail in this relation.

2. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a dressing element supported on said frame, and adapted to engage the head of a rail, means for driving said frame and its dressing element along the rail, and a guide for the dressing element adapted to engage and travel upon the tram of the rail exclurail exclusively,

sively, whereby the cut of the dressing element is determined With reference to the unWorn tram, and Without reference to the surface configuration of the rail head upon which it operates.

3. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a rail-head dressing element supported upon said frame, and a track support for the frame and element comprising a flanged guide offset from the dressing element so as to engage and travel exclusively upon the tram portion of the rail entirely free from the head thereof.

4. In a machine of the class described, a frame, a rail-head dressing element, and a flanged guide supporting the frame and said element and offset from the latter so as to engage and travel upon the tram of the With its flange engaging one side of said tram.

5. A machine of the class described comprising a frame adapted to span a track- Way, a rail dressing element supported on said frame in position to operate upon the head of one rail of the trackWay, and travelers supporting said frame on opposite sides of said dressing element each engaging and traveling exclusively upon the tram portion of one of the rails.

6. A rail grinding machine comprising a frame, a grinding element supported on said frame and adapted to engage the head of a rail, and a guide supporting said frame and offset from the grinding element so as to travel exclusively upon the frame of the rail.

WILLIAM D. GHERKY.

Witnesses:

JOHN P. TARBox, JAMns H. MARK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

